If there was ever a single word that describes the mental state of, or the perspective of, an industry, it is "multimedia." It is impossible to imagine a new personal computer being announced without multimedia capability. Few retail sales of personal computers are believed to be made without at least minimum multimedia capabilities. The computer science industry is always looking for a new concept upon which the next product of the decade can be built. This decade it could be "Multimedia." There are at least two types of multimedia--emotional and intellectual.
Emotional Multimedia concentrates on those media that activate the emotional characteristics of the brain. The most recognizable use of Emotional Multimedia is motion pictures. Films utilize graphics, movement, human or humanoids, sound, light, and trick photography to involve a passive viewer in an emotional roller coaster.
In this regard, Applicant has published the following texts: Financial Reporting Using Computer Graphics, John Wiley & Sons, N.Y., 1993, and its 1995 supplement (both of which are incorporated by reference herein). The supplement defines "Intellectual Multimedia" as "a concentrated and specific effort to activate all four parts of the brain about a set of information with appropriate media that results in understanding." The effort reflects research into how the brain functions, as discussed in references cited therein.
Intellectual Multimedia requires tabular, written, graphic and voice or sound to activate all four parts of the brain. If all of the media is aimed at getting the same information into the brain, improved learning occurs. The best use is to include interactivity so that a "learner" moves at his or her own pace.
Implementating intellectual multimedia requires a substantial understanding of how the human brain processes information and how a large amount of information can be successfully communicated at one time.
Executives, managers, employees and their families who do not understand accounting or the financial reports prepared by accountants would benefit from a multimedia approach to help them understand. However, Accountants are once again unprepared for the technological revolution that surrounds us. Thus, financial statements in the prior art are not at all known for their wide range of understanding.
One of the most critical success factors in communication is to get information to those involved as soon as possible after the events occur. When the events that created the data, such as operating results, are fresh in the mind of those involved, the information becomes more relevant.
What is needed, therefore, is a system which truly explains what the data means by combining such information with the vast multimedia power of present day systems. The system must be fast--e.g., real time. And the system should make use of developments in brain research, so as to effeciently communicate such information as financial data.